


A Christmas to Remember

by Nakira Taisho (nakirataisho)



Series: Miraculous One-Shots [5]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gen, Kwami Swap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-26 06:42:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17136917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nakirataisho/pseuds/Nakira%20Taisho
Summary: Christmas comes to Paris and a certain super heroine has a surprise for her crush...





	A Christmas to Remember

The doors of the bakery were open on Christmas Eve, like many other bakeries in Paris. They were running a holiday giveaway and fundraiser to feed the homeless and donate to the children's hospital. Everything was on sale and every cent went to the hospital. They had cardboard cutouts of Ladybug and Chat Noire behind the donation boxes. Marinette thought the little Santa hat added to the cutout wasn't something that suited her feline alter ego, but it was part of the holidays. The hat didn't suit her partner either.

She spent the day handing out free food and special treats to people who donated or seemed like they needed it. At one point, she'd even taken a 'break' and disappeared to transform and go help with the giving as Chat Noire, promising Plagg a special treat for being a good sport. She bumped into Ladybug while she was out and he cited the same reasoning she had: helping sometimes was more impactful as a superhero. The pair went to a few places together and let people take pictures with them. They even went to a shelter and helped hand out presents to the children.

When she returned to the bakery and detransformed, she was exhausted, but her holiday work wasn't done yet and she would have plenty of time to rest after they locked up the bakery. She gave Plagg his gift of a complete wheel of Camembert and a full assortment of other cheeses, which he was excited about since she was usually only able to give him cheaper cheeses. She'd left her Kwami in her room with his present and went back to her work. As the day wore on, she ended up giving treats to all of her classmates and their families. Even Chloé and the mayor came by.

She was a little hesitant to give the pastry to the Mayor's daughter, but her parents had pressured her, reminding her that it was Christmas. Even the nastiest girl in Paris was permitted a present on Christmas, and the mayor had dropped a rather hefty donation in the box. She mumbled a 'merry Christmas' to the bully and gave her the box of pastries.

"Could you repeat that?" Chloé sneered. "I couldn't hear you." Marinette frowned and took a deep breath.

"MERRY CHRISTMAS CHLOÉ!!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, right in the blonde's face. As Chloé recovered from the sound, the mayor pushed her shoulder gently.

"Chloé, it's Christmas," he reminded his daughter. Chloé grimaced and took a deep breath.

"Merry Christmas, Marinette!" she shouted and Marinette couldn't help but grin at the fact that she'd somehow managed to be louder than Chloé. "But I hate your guts, don't you forget!" the girl hissed.

"The feeling's mutual, Chloé," she assured her and turned to check the inventory. The door opened with a ring and she glanced back to see that in the absence of the mayor and his daughter stood none other than Adrien's bodyguard. "Oh no, Adrien's present!" she gasped. "Please, sir, don't go anywhere just yet. I have something for Adrien," she said as she handed him the treats for dropping a few large bills in the donation box. He nodded a little and she rushed upstairs. "Plagg stop eating for a second and help me find that present!"

"Which one?" the Kwami sighed around a mouthful of cheddar. "You've been so busy helping everyone in Paris give stuff out, you haven't given out any of your own presents."

"The one for Adrien!" she snapped, cursing herself for forgetting. Plagg flew away from his cheese and pulled out a soft package from her work table. "Thank you." She double checked the label. "I'll just make sure a certain feline heroine delivers the others." She hurried back downstairs as she heard Plagg groan in dismay and complain about transforming. When she got back to the bakery, the bodyguard was gone.

"He said he had to hurry back, something about schedules…," her mother explained. Marinette groaned and ran outside. She tried to flag down the silver car before he got too far, but the bodyguard was well and truly gone. She glanced at her ring and then back at the bakery. Her parents were putting up a sold-out sign and clearly getting ready to lock up for the holiday. She nodded to herself and hurried back inside before the cold caught up with her.

"Is it all right if I go out for a little while?" she asked her parents. "I forgot to give everyone else their presents as well…"

"After dinner, sweetie," her mother promised. She nodded in agreement and helped clean up.

* * *

Adrien smiled a little as he helped Nathalie with the tree. He'd only managed to slip away for a little while to do some holiday giving as Ladybug, but that was enough for him. Tikki helped him reach a particular branch before hiding in his sleeve to avoid being seen. He looked around the tree to see Nathalie finishing her box of decorations.

"Do you think he'll like all the decorations?" he asked, hoping that the hustle and bustle would be able to distract his father from being a stoic grouch for one night. His bodyguard came into the house, but that was the only person who emerged. "He should be down here already…did you call him?"

"Perhaps we should give him…a few more minutes," Nathalie sighed, looking towards the atelier. Adrien sighed and climbed down from his ladder.

"What's the point?" he mumbled. "He's not coming." He started for his room and his bodyguard touched his shoulder gently. The bodyguard held out a box from Tom and Sabine's. He smiled a little at the man and took the treats. "Merry Christmas…both of you," he told the pair before going into his room. It was the first Christmas since his mother had gone missing, and she seemed to have taken even the holiday cheer from the house with her.

"Adrien…are you okay?" Tikki asked gently, flying out of his shirt.

"I'm fine," he assured her. "I'd just hoped that with it being a holiday and all my father would spend at least a little time with me…"

"Maybe he'll come by later," she tried.

"Maybe. I need some air though," he sighed, putting the box on his desk. Tikki flew over to investigate it while he went to open a window and put on his coat. He saw a black shape on the approach and gasped. "Hide, Tikki!" he hissed. The red Kwami hid behind his computer monitors just as Chat Noire perched on the ledge of his window, holding a sack and wearing a black Santa hat.

"Evening, Adrien," she said lightly. "May I come in?" He nodded dumbly and she dropped into the room.

"Chat Noire, what brings you over?"

"I volunteered to help deliver some presents," she told him, putting her sack down. "I have a couple of gifts for you, actually." She reached into the bag and pulled out three boxes. "Let's see…one from Chloé Bourgeois," she put the largest box on the couch. It certainly looked like it could have come from Chloé, with the gold wrapping paper and fancy handwriting. "Another from Nino Lahiffe," she laughed and put another box down, haphazardly wrapped with his friend's loopy handwriting declaring his name. "And…," she trailed off, holding out a soft package with blue wrapping and a pink ribbon around it. "From one Marinette Dupain-Cheng." He took it and tore into that one first.

Two hats and a hand drawn card were revealed. One of the hats was red with white snowflakes and three dangling white puffs, the other was an eerily familiar blue. He shrugged the similar colours off and read the note, taking note of the fact that the drawing on the front was clearly a sketch of him wearing a striking red suit with a matching beret. He smiled a little and read her note quietly. It was a simple poem about the joys of friendship, but the calligraphy she'd used, the effort to make everything as memorable and pretty as she could had him in tears.

"By the way," Chat Noire sighed, pulling a kerchief from seemingly nowhere and offering it to him. "You weren't about to run away, were you?"

"No…," he sighed, wiping his eyes. "Just needed some air. My father's being…the same as always."

"Well, you can help me deliver these presents. That'll get you out of the house for a bit and you can clear your head, see your friends…," she suggested, tying off her sack. He grinned, thinking that spending the night with her would be the best present ever.

"Let me write a note for my bodyguard first," he hurried to his desk and grabbed a notepad, letting his coat hang just right for Tikki to fly into an inner pocket. Chat Noire did some fiddling with her bag behind him and when he finished writing his note, she'd somehow turned the sack into a backpack that she had strapped to her back. He blinked in surprise, but remembered that she was an amateur sorceress and didn't comment. He crossed the room to her and she gently hoisted him up.

"Hold on now, we're going to be going up pretty high," she warned and he nodded, putting his arms around her carefully. She used her staff to lift them both out of the window and onto the top of the wall surrounding the property. She checked that he was okay before vaulting from roof to roof, heading to the homes of everyone in his class. They gave out gifts from her seemingly bottomless bag.

"Thank you, Chat Noire," he told her when they finished delivering gifts. "This has been the best Christmas ever."

"I have one more gift for you, if you're not afraid of heights," she said, holding out her hand. He took her hand without hesitation.

"I know it's safe with a superhero around," he laughed. She smiled a little and took him to the very top of the Eiffel Tower. "Wow…"

"You can see the whole city up here," she sighed, sitting on a beam.

"You and Ladybug must be the only ones that usually have this kind of view…," he noted, realizing that he'd never really looked at the city up here.

"Yeah. But from what I've been told, you don't get to get out very often."

"No…this is the first year I've even been allowed to go to public school…"

* * *

Chat Noire looked at Adrien as a clocktower tolled Midnight. He seemed entranced by the view, but she realized that she should probably get him home before his father started worrying that she'd kidnapped him. The last thing she wanted was a worried father getting akumatized on Christmas. She stood and faced Adrien.

"We should get you home before your father sends the city police after me," she joked.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," he sighed and she picked him up again to take him home. The city was quiet as she carried him across the rooftops, but she still kept an eye out (mostly from habit). She spotted a small scene and paused to make sure she wasn't needed. An old man dressed as Santa Claus was giving gifts to a pair of children and they were being petulant.

"I'll be right back, Adrien," she sighed when she saw the little girl pulling on Santa's beard. He nodded and she jumped to the ground.

"Chat Noire!" the little boy gasped.

"Everything all right here, folks?" she asked lightly, focusing her attention on the adults. "You're not hurt, are you Santa?"

"I'm fine," the old man laughed. She looked at the children's guardian and he nodded.

"Now, as for you two…," she said, turning to face the children. "Even if this isn't the real Santa, what do you think your behaviour says?"

"Ah, right. She's correct," the guardian said. "Apologize right now."

"Sorry, Santa…," both of the children mumbled, shuffling their feet.

"It's no big deal, children," Santa said. "Merry Christmas, anyways." The children were escorted inside, still clearly unimpressed with their gifts but otherwise silent. Chat Noire smiled at the older man and headed back to Adrien. They continued on their way back to the Agreste Mansion and she dropped Adrien off in his room. When his back was turned, she blew him a kiss and headed home.

**Author's Note:**

> Hit me up [@sorcerymuses](http://sorcerymuses.tumblr.com/)


End file.
